The Women of 'Cashmere Mafia' Suit Themselves

Jan. 3, 2008 — -- Just call them Suits and the City.

Four years after the seminal singles series "Sex and the City" ended its run on HBO, another quartet of blunt, bodacious and bold ladies will stride through Manhattan in killer heels: ABC's "Cashmere Mafia," premiering Sunday (10 ET/PT) and then shifting to its regular slot Wednesday at 10.

This time, the focus shifts from the boudoir to the boardroom.

Mia Mason (Lucy Liu) is a publishing whiz with a shaky personal life, Zoe Burden (Frances O'Connor) is an investment banker with two kids she barely sees, Juliet Draper (Miranda Otto) works as a hotel executive while dealing with major marital issues, and Caitlin Dowd (Bonnie Somerville) is a marketing pro who finds herself attracted to another woman.

"Cashmere" and "Sex" share the same executive producer in Darren Star, as well as costume designer Patricia Field and location. But unlike "Sex," which focused primarily on the relationship exploits of its four stars, "Cashmere" zooms in on the cutthroat corporate side of Manhattan, where a family crumbles when the nanny quits and an executive vies with her fiancé for a promotion.

Liu, the marquee name in the series, describes the show as "an exploration of women in modern society. The idea of how you balance out and juggle what you want, and what is actually reality. How do you live your life and still have time for yourself -- and is there time for yourself?"

"Cashmere" has seven completed episodes, with production of the remainder of the season on hold because of the ongoing writers' strike.

On Feb. 7, the Cashmere clique gets major competition from NBC's "Lipstick Jungle," another series about a heavy-hitting trio of Gotham women starring Brooke Shields, Kim Raver and Lindsay Price. It is based on the book by Candace Bushnell, the author of the "Sex and the City" book.

And in May comes the holy grail of girl power: the long-awaited, just-wrapped "Sex and the City" movie, featuring the original foursome and hitting a cineplex near you after an endlessly chronicled shoot in Manhattan.